365 Reflections

The book of Zephaniah ends on a beautiful note of hope. A famous line describes God's love for His people and rings deeply in the heart of every grateful saint He has saved. As the prophets began in Isaiah, so Zephaniah continues here, some will be saved from the day of judgment.  Isaiah 1:9 (ESV) If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. What should be our response to this great salvation? Zephaniah 3:14–15 (ESV) Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. The Lord's remnant is called to sing, for they have escaped the judgment against the city. How? Through their humility and seeking the Lord, as was mentioned in verse 11. And then that remnant is promised God's prote...

1 Samuel 29:6–7 (ESV)   Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7 So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” The end of 1 Samuel is approaching and we are like movie-goers awaiting the tension to be resolved and the resolution to come. Saul is descending further and further into moral disaster, David is living among the Philistines, war is on the horizon between Israel and Philistia. What will happen? How will it all end? This is good storytelling and we do well to pay attention to the movements here on out.  The first move toward resolve is the rejection of David by the Philistine lords. While Achish had no qualms with his apparent loyalty, the other four Philist...

Numbers 30:2–5 (ESV) If a man vows a vow to the Lord , or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 3 “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her. I admit, when I read Numbers 30 there's a squeamish part of me that flares up. After all, are not all people equal in the eyes of God? How is it then, that a man can make a vow or take an oath for himself, but a woman (either living single in her father's house or married to her h...

Psalm 127:1–5 (ESV)   Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.           3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord , the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. When I first read this Psalm I thought it was two different Psalms that have been forced into one. The first part is about building something - industry, work, labor. The second about family, children and rest (which often don't go together). But I was wrong. I learned that Jewish people see this Psalm as a unit because in their mind all areas of life flow togethe...

Psalm 122:1 (ESV) I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Are you glad to come to God's house? You should be. For the writer of Psalm 122, there was no better place for he and fellow pilgrims to be than in the house of the Lord. Imagine being a Jewish pilgrim. You wander through the desert plains of Palestine most of the year. But three times a year (and some times a few more) you go to the house of God for a festival where everyone from your big national family comes to worship and celebrate the presence of God together. What a beautiful thing. Psalm 122:3–4 (ESV)   Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, 4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord , as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord . For Israel, coming to Jerusalem and the Temple was like Christmas or Easter dinner with family. They were one people AND one nation tied together in a sweet community of fellowship with God. Some of ...

I love Palm trees. I always have. My parents and family lives in Florida and I live in the frozen Northeast. Each year we come down for a 2 1/2 week excursion to avoid the deep chill sometime between December 25 and March 31. I'm writing this entry from florida now. A palm tree sits just outside their window taunting me of our soon departure. Revelation 7 recounts the great multitude who come out of the great tribulation. Saints who stood opposed to the anti-christ system of the world. They were martyred and stayed strong in faith. This has happened in every generation. From the lion's in the Coliseum of Rome (Revelations's first audience) to Corrie Ten Boom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer under Nazi persecution... to the Bamboo Curtain's Chinese Christians underground suffering for Christ to the Christians in Muslim dominated countries being tortured and killed for their faith, every generation has had those who have stayed strong against Babylon. This is how John sees...